Question about Sustainability

1. Large business leaders are accountable to the government, their shareholders, and their stakeholders for business decisions. As such, they face pressure to implement a sustainability plan and penalties for engaging in non sustainable practices. To whom are small business owners accountable? What pressures do small business owners face when creating and implementing a sustainable business plan? What kind of incentives may the government or local community offer to encourage small business owners to improve sustainability practices? For the purpose of this discussion, a small business is defined as having fewer than 50 employees.

2. A local landscaping company is considering implementing sustainable practices related to the chemicals and machinery they use and the employees they hire. What are some advantages and disadvantages for this type of company, when implementing a sustainable business plan? Consider financial, ethical, social, legal, and practical aspects of business. Provide specific examples to support your answers.

3. You are a development planner working for a small town in Arizona. You would like to develop a decentralized energy plan that encourages businesses to use individual solar power units. How would you convince business owners to utilize solar power over fossil fuels? How would you encourage them to incorporate renewable energy sources as part of their overall business culture?

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1. Large business leaders are accountable to the government, their shareholders, and their stakeholders for business decisions. As such, they face pressure to implement a sustainability plan and penalties for engaging in non sustainable practices. To whom are small business owners accountable? What pressures do small business owners face when creating and implementing a sustainable business plan? What kind of incentives may the government or local community offer to encourage small business owners to improve sustainability practices? For the purpose of this discussion, a small business is defined as having fewer than 50 employees.

Small business owners are accountable to themselves, community, employees, and the government. This is because of each of them has a choice on how to behave within the organization. The government has to know the assets he or she bringing in on a regular basis. Each of the employees wants to know what is going on within the company, so that they can do their job effectively. For those who are in the community and utilize the service, each of them wants to know what is being offered to them, and will strive to become loyal in the process, so that their needs are met. Ultimately, the choice is up to the owner, and what kind of reputation he or she wants to set for themselves and the community they serve, which will help the organization in the long run.

Business owners have many pressures when creating and implementing a sustainable business plan. For example, many steps are involved when making this possible. They have to create a baseline by assessing where it is at currently, identify current opportunities for improvement, have steps to implement it, deadlines are needed, and to continuously revisit it (Spors, 2010). All of these are not easy tasks. I have had the opportunity to mentor others in creating a plan, and it is tedious as well as gets them going on operations management once they have a plan on what direction they are going to go with their company. Each person was stressed out during this time, but had me to vent on in case it became too much for the individual. In the long run, they thanked me for their support, and I was glad to assist them. The same is true of any business owner, and anyone wanting to start his own profit or non-profit organization. This could take months or years, but with much patience and determination there is much hope once it is accomplished.

The government can offer many incentives for small ...

Solution Summary

This solution provided ways in which business owners have to maintain a business plan, incentives, advantages and disadvantages, and how to convince others to use solar power over fossil fuels.

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